Con-Ed Electric bill question

646guy

My roommate and I have the entire second floor of a brownstone. Our electric bill is about $82 for the 2 of us and she thinks it's too much. We both have large LCD/flat screen TVs, laptops, etc. I got an offer for $89/month on a level billing plan and she's still insisting that it's too much. Our neighbor upstairs pays $160/month.

Does anyone else use level billing? Do you like it and why?

snowboardqueen

I also had a high electric bill $80 - $120 a month.

Simple solution. call Con ed, inform that you unplugged everything, waited 30 mins and your meter was still spinning. they will come out and investigate. If the see an issue the landlord will required to fix it and you will receive a hefty refund.

We just received and $844 refund check from con Ed for overpaying! Thank God my gf complained.

646guy

Yeah we've seen that recommended. We just wanted to see what the average bill was so when we get home we (and our upstairs neighbor) can see if things are being wired a little...shall we say...funky-ly...

milesjo

How can one estimate what's a high bill or not? Our bill is around $75 a month consistently. We live on the first floor of a brownstone.

Thanks

646guy

My roommate said she was used to seeing bills around $40-50/month at her former apartment. WE changed the way we split bills recently so she's seeing some of these for the first time and is surprised (even though I told her what they were before she moved in)....

5x5

I work from home and my electric bill is around $60-$80/month...I also have the entire second floor of my building. SnowboardQueen's idea is a good one--and that is one great refund check!

I hate the level billing plan. I thought it was a good idea a couple of years ago and paid about $65/month...until December, when we were hit with a huge end-of-the-year bill for the amount above and beyond $65, including for our summer air conditioning and the Christmas lights strung all around my apartment. Really horrible timing on that bill--I'd rather pay as I go now.

646guy

Yeah rthat's the inherent risk in the level billing plan. If you use more than what they charge you, you get whopped with a bill at the end. IF you use less, then you get that refunded.

brooklynjack

So the level billing plan isn't really a per month charge per se it is con ed's estimate of what you will use during 1 year divided by 12, if you use more electricity than Con Ed thinks you will yo still have to pay for it? Do you get a refund if you overpay?

646guy

That's how it was explained to me. If you go over, you have to pay for it. If you go under (and we're under on some of our usages from last year already), you get it credited to you...or refunded. You pay the same amount each month. For me since I work a lot on commission, it's good to know it's the same amount each month and helps me budget.

g2bdon

Con Ed is 'supposed' to monitor your account during the year and if there are any gross fluctuations (up or down) in billed vs used, they make the adjustment during the year and not at the end of the level pay period. You should not end up with a large balance due at the end of your budget cycle. It's best to watch the bills yourself and if they are getting out of whack, pick up the phone. They will adjust the level pay amount. See attached Con Ed link:
http://www.coned.com/customercentral/brochures/br_levelpayment.pdf

tybur6

The level billing plan is only a big deal if you have uneven usage... i.e., you use air conditional A LOT in the summer. My bill is about $50 a month and my highest bill this summer was about $85... didn't use my a/c very much (only my bedroom anyway) but ran a lot of fans.

Oh -- if you do the "energy leak" test. Make sure you don't forget you refrigerator and the little things around the house (clocks, etc.)... oh, and TVs and recharging converters for phones etc still draw a little power when off. TVs are in standby. So, you need to unplug them; not just switch them off.

brooklynjack

I've heard that the new flat panel TV suck a lot of juice when off.

I think all devices should have a hard off switch and this little bricks or wall worts or vampires as they are variously refereed to should only draw current when something is plugged into them and on

scarlett

My roommate uses a white noise machine 10-12hrs a day and it costs $10 to run. We try to unplus things when not in use but get lazy with tv, lamps, stereo et. Ours peaks at $125 in full summer ac mode and is usually $50 the rest of the year for a small two bed.

stacey

BrooklynJack wrote: I've heard that the new flat panel TV suck a lot of juice when off.

I think all devices should have a hard off switch and this little bricks or wall worts or vampires as they are variously refereed to should only draw current when something is plugged into them and on

We have a flat panel tv and haven't noticed a difference because of it.
My son had a energy conservation program at his school where we were told to keep most of our electrical items plugged into a power surge strip. When we leave for the day we shut the power surge strip off an I have noticed that my bill went down about $10 a month. The only bad thing was that with the Cablevision digital cable box it takes forever to reboot. We started leaving only the cable box plugged in and we still see the $10 difference.

My bill is only a little than that a month but I also have an outside light that I leave on all night. I asked my neighbor upstairs (a family of 3) and their monthly bill is about $65-$75 per month.

Do you have a light in the common hallway on your floor? When we lived in an apartment our landlord had control of the hall lights and left them on all night. When we tried the "unplug everything test" we found out that the light was on our circuit and we were paying for it.

scarlett

I totally asked the ConEd people who was paying for the common lights and they not only told me it was the landlord, they told me how much my neighbors (smaller apartment) and landlord (gigantic duplex) were paying. Once I heard we paid the least by far, I was pretty happy.

withachaser

anyone else running an air purifier 24/7? i'm in an 800 sq ft small 2 bdr. recently switched to level billing at $100 month. my non-ac bill has consistently hovered around 80 for 5 years. with ac, it goes over 250 (i run a big one daytime hours for the canine/feline when it's over 75F. shut it off at night and run a small bedroom one all summer.) no tvs. 2 computers. i think its the air purifier that sucks the energy. but compared to other posts, my bill still seems high...

kathymalone

Subject: Con Ed Quadrupled my Bill for my small busines

Has anyone else experienced this?
I run Brooklyn Indie Market, basically a tent with fluorescent overhead lights.
For two years the bill was around $50 a month as we are only open 2 days out of the week, closed part of the summer.
In December we whip out 8 space heaters which greatly increases our delivery demand, however, we are now being charged $200 a month, every single month, four times as much based on this one month out of the year our consumption needs increase, as explained to me by a Con Ed representative. On top of the changed delivery charge I will be charged for the actual consumption increase.
I am looking for other small businesses facing a similar billing increase issue.
Thanks in advance!

armchair_warrior

around $40+ for 4 people sharing a 3 br apt each month.